Latest / UK Travel Planning / UK in December and January: What to Do, Where to Go + Two-Month Trip Report

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UK in December and January: What to Do, Where to Go + Two-Month Trip Report · UK Travel Planning

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: What happens when someone who spent two years editing this very podcast puts those travel tips to the test on their own UK trip?
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: In this episode, our podcast editor Ryan Fairweather from New Zealand shares highlights from his and partner Tilly's two-month visit, including how podcast ideas shape the itinerary from the V8 to pick and cheese in London.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Your host is the founder of the UK travel planning website, Tracy Collins.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Each week, Tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Join us as we explore the UK, from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from a picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Before we get started, we'd like to thank our sponsor, Walks and Devour Tours.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: If you're planning a trip to London, you'll already know the challenge.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot you want to do and only a limited amount of time to fit it all in.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: That's where the right tour makes all the difference because you want experiences that are the best use of your time with more access, less waiting, and a deeper sense of the city.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: That's why we recommend Walks and Devour Tours.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: They offer walk-in tours and food tours designed to make your time count, often with early or after hours entry.
• 1:22
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• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: If you're visiting London as a couple with family or you simply prefer a more intimate experience, walks and devour tours also offer private tour options.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: To learn more, you'll find the link in the show notes.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Now let's get into this week's episode.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: Hi everybody, and welcome to this week's edition of the UK Travel Planner Podcast.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: And this week it is a trip report, which I always enjoy doing.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: And in particular this week, it's going to be really interesting because I have my podcast editor, Ryan, to share his trip report from last year when he was in the UK, actually end of last year and beginning of this year.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: But Ryan's going to introduce himself, tell us a little bit about how long he was in the UK for and a briefer view of his itinerary.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, so if you ever hear anything on the podcast that you think, oh, well, that is absolutely amazing, that is because Ryan edited it.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: So hi Ryan, welcome to the podcast this week.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everyone.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Ryan.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the editor.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: The sort of uh you'll never hear me, but I'm always sort of got my touch on the podcast.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh just as well, if you if you hear anything amazing, if you hear anything bad, that's also probably my fault as well.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh no, no.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: I wasn't gonna say that, Ryan.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I'm Ryan.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm actually from New Zealand.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh shout out to all the New Zealand listeners.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um and yeah, I went to the UK uh at the end of last year uh through December and January.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um I actually went for two months, uh, which is you know quite a long time.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: But a little bit of context.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, my partner uh is was born in the UK and sort of her whole family lived there.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we sort of try and visit every sort of couple years, and we try to go as long as we can.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um so the kind of primary reason for me going was less about tourism and more about just sort of seeing family, but we tried to squeeze in as much as we could while we were there.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um and yeah.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: And you did, and two months is amazing, Ryan.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, two months is a great length of time to go, and I understand why it's exactly the same.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: I go and obviously do stuff for the podcast and for our YouTube and everything when I'm in the UK, but also I go to spend a bit of time with my family.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: So it's lovely for for you and um Talita go over and and spend some time over in the UK.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: Now, obviously, you've been editing the podcast for quite a long time.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm assuming, I'm assuming.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, I actually looked this up.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: I actually looked this up for this episode, and I started um the I think my first edit for because I do UKTP and um global travel planning as well.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: I started UK travel planning at episode 102, and I believe this episode is 196.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: So do the maths, it's just under 100 episodes.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a lot.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's a it's been I don't actually know how long it's been.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's been over, you know, a year and a bit.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I can't actually imagine it.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, we do an episode a week, so I'm guessing when we're heading to nearly two years.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, time has flown by.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's been good.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know what?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: I I have to, I've got the 200th episode in a few months' time, so Ryan.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: So actually, because you've been editing so many episodes, by that point, nearly a hundred, um, I need to get you to come on and tell us what your favorite episode out of those hundred is.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: Oh gosh, I'm just yeah.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because that's that's what I'm going to be asking everybody else to do to get in touch within me and speak quite and let me know what they enjoyed.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but now tell me, out of all those, I guess those episodes and what you've heard and kind of um planning your trip, how did you get let's have a look about let's talk a little bit about your itinerary and then how you created it.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm hoping obviously you got a lot of information and inspiration from myself and Doug.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I mean, oh my gosh.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I when I first started editing for the UK travel planning, I already had in mind when I was gonna go to the UK next.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was like the I had yeah, it was about two years afterwards.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so basically, ever since I've started editing, I've like had my phone to the side of my computer with a document open of just like, and every time I heard something that I was like, oh that's kind of cool.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't do that, uh, I would write it down to my phone.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I've actually got this document, and it's called like next trip to the UK, and it's got like a huge list of things to do that I wanted to do.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and that's kind of what I drew from um throughout the whole trip.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And although I didn't actually, because we kind of planned a lot of the stuff around family, I couldn't really lock in a lot of like certain dates around like when I wanted to do stuff, so I didn't actually book a whole lot in advance, which is I know a bit of an amateur mistake, but I sort of knew what I was walking into a little bit.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so yeah, um, that's kind of how I uh got all of my ideas.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm sure I can go into detail of like what I ended up doing as well.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: So you had all those ideas.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you were in the UK December, January.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: So December is a little bit more busy, depending on where you were going.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um so not booking things, you'll have to let me know how that went.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and obviously then uh January less so less January less of a less of an issue because it's it's it's low season, so it's not as busy.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so so so I'm gonna talk to you about your favourite experiences and the favourite places that you went.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I'm gonna ask you, because I know Doug, I can hear like Doug's on my shoulder going, ask Ryan how he got around the UK.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: Did he use the trains?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Did you what did you do?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Doug will be so happy to know that because of him, a train trip was like a butt on the bucket list of what I need to do.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, you know, of there was I had like a small list of things that I like a bucket list of things that I wanted to do while I was in the UK.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like I had to try like Iron Brew.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: That was like on the thing.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, you gotta try it.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the other thing was have a train ride.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so I did end up having a train ride, and it was really hard because there was a few that I wanted to do.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: I I really wanted to do the Caledonian sleeper, but uh, and I because we really wanted to go to Edinburgh again, um, because I've been there before and loved it.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I hear you guys talk about the Caledonian sleeper so many times, so I was like, I had to do it, but I just couldn't fit it into the schedule, and we sort of we were running out of money as well.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, we couldn't we can't only choose between I think we were choosing between London and Edinburgh, and so I was like, I have to, and um we also had to go to Edinburgh to catch the train.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sorry, go to London to catch the train to Edinburgh, so it was a little bit difficult.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that was one of the things I didn't get to do.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I did take a train to London, um, which was pretty cool.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, good.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: And um, well, the thing is, Ryan, you didn't do it this time, but you can do it next time.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I will say, if you're gonna do the Caledonian sleeper, you really need to do the Highlander, which is the one to Inverness or the one to Fort Witham to get the best of the experience.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm actually glad you didn't do it.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm glad you didn't do it.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I I remember thinking, well, if I I've got to do yeah, the Highlander, that's right, to go all the way to Inverness.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: I know because I know you guys have said that, and I've got it, I've actually got it written down.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and Tilly was keen, she was on board, but again, it was just trying to figure out like an itinerary around that about because we again we wanted to see Edinburgh, so like do we like go Edinburgh on the way back?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that kind of thing.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um But yeah, next time, next time we'll do it.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly, you can add in next time.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: So let's talk about uh where you went, your favorite places and your favorite experiences.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because I like to know, you know, what did you do that you that you enjoyed, and where did you go that you enjoyed?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So we did a lot, obviously we were there for a while, and most of it was kind of day trips to places.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't really spend too many like nights away.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it was kind of like wherever we can go within like an hour's drive of the car and come back at night.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but my favourite places, I'll break it down into two, and the two locations, the main locations we went to, which was York and London.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: So York, we went there first.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: We went there in uh December, um Christmas time.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Very nice.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um wasn't too busy, thankfully, actually, surprisingly.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my favourite thing, uh, which I got from uh one of the things I got from your list was the old York Tea House, uh, which I specifically have written apparently better than Betty's, which I went past Betty's, by the way, and it was packed.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, wow, this is uh I was like, this is gonna this is crazy.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um because apparently there the tea there at the old York tea house is really nice, really good.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And also it's really interesting, it's got a really interesting interesting history.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually the oldest uh timber uh building or timber house in all of England.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: It was actually made, I have it I have it written down because I remembered, uh, in 1316, which, by the way, for reference, is older than my country.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my country in New Zealand was founded in 1840.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when my country was founded, this place had already been open for like 500 years.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I just can't I just can't fathom it.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sitting in it, having, you know, having tea, although I don't drink tea, so I was actually having coffee.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um no, don't I I can't tell Doug, I can't tell Doug that.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: You've gone down his estimation, Ryan.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I I I will say that I'm guessing in the 1300s it didn't open as a tea room there.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's correct, yeah.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a tea room.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was I I was so we I actually wrote down in my notes for this place that it was owned by these really lovely two uh guys.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And um they I can confirm my experience.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't tell them anything that I that I was like from the like I knew the podcast or anything, but they were so lovely to us.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: They had like chatted for us for like five, ten minutes um while we were looking at what to order about like the history of the place.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: They actually told us that the first female stone mason um used to rent there, and and she worked on the York Minster.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um and they told us these other stories as well about how it was actually like it was a it was owned by the church and the church like rented it out for income.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's really interesting.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's it was it was so cool, and uh but the thing that I didn't sort of anticipate or didn't really think very far ahead was that obviously it's a it's a tea house, and I don't drink tea.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: I got there and I was like, actually, I don't really drink tea.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: What am I doing?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I got a coffee.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: I feel terrible.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it was more the experience and the and the vibe of the place, uh, which was really cool, a really a highlight for me.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um well I will be I will be visiting.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: I will be visiting the uh old York tea rooms, um, a tea house soon.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah um hopefully next month.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: Now I I hope you did mention the podcast and you heard about them on the podcast.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: I bet you didn't.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: You see that you let me down.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you did?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: You did excellent.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say you would have let me down if you didn't.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I did.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's how I found out about the podcast.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because I said I've I said I've got it written, I had it written down that it was better than Betty's.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And apparently Betty's is like, you know, the tea place to drink tea.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's I literally got it specifically from you.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't mention it to them, no.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't say like um.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no, that's what I was gonna say.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: You should have mentioned it to them.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: No, I didn't.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to like you know, I want to get a true experience, you know?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't want to like have the true experience, and then when you're at your door, you go, by the way, I heard about you on the UK travel plan podcast.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I should have actually.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: I love that because honestly, we get feedback uh well, we get feedback when we go to these places in the UK, and then if I happen to say that it's the podcast, it's amazing how many uh hotels and restaurants and places we'll go.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, we know because so many people say when they come in they heard about us on the podcast, which is always really, really cool.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, so yeah, next time, Ryan, you mention the podcast.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I should actually, yeah, I will.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so that's that's you that was one of your top experiences in York.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: What else did you do?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Another top experience in York that we got recommended to by actually some locals.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um they actually said, Oh, you gotta check out the Jorvik Viking Centre.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't really know anything about it, I just knew that it was like some sort of Viking museum, and that it was apparently really good.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: So we sort of we chalked up the money and we we were like, let's just do it.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently it's good, we'll just sort of trust the the people.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: And um and it was actually we were blown away about how interesting it was and um how different it was to like your normal museum experience.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: So basically it's um without spoiling too much, it's basically like a little ride.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like you kind of sit in it, kind of like you do it like a theme park, and you um you go down a street, it's like underground, it's like in a basement, and you they have recreated the very street that the museum is on, but in in Viking times, um in the town of Jorvik, which is the Viking name for York, and it was so interesting that they create recreated like everything, they had like animatronics for all the people, and they like recreated everything from like the the fabrics to um what was the everyday like for these people.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Even they actually have these little scent scent things going on.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is, but they actually have recreated what it would smell like or what they think it would smell like during that time.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: And when I tell you, it is very interesting the smell.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was actually quite pleasant, it's kind of like piney, I would describe it as.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was just a much more interesting way for me, at least, to kind of learn about what was York in the Viking time.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, just blown away by that.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's really good, it's really, really good.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, so obviously you did not edit episode three of our podcast, which is all about York, which is one of our like top episodes.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so we talk about actually Sinead, who did that episode, is it she's fantastic.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, she's she lives in York and she's a York expert.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um and she uh she you know she she talks about that and the Yorvik Center absolutely we love it, we just think it they've done such a good job of how they present it.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: So and it's really interactive, it's great for adults, it's great if you've got kids as well to have that experience.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like you say, it's uh it's just it's worth it, it's worth every uh penny that is to go to see.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: It is really worth it, it's really cool.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the next thing, oh, I had to do this, Tracy.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I had to find Paddington uh in York because I know you post on your Instagram, you with Paddington all around the UK, it says, I gotta recreate the photo.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I specifically went to it's like in the park next to York Minster.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Paddington's sitting on a bench, and I took a photo having my sandwich next to him eating his marmalade sandwich.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that was another little little highlight.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's fantastic.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you need to give us the photo, we can put that in the show notes so people can check out Ryan sitting next to Paddington.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I need to check, I need to actually share some more of those pictures of me and Paddington all over the UK.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: They were fun.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: They're fun to do.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um so what else in York?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Was anything how long were you in York for a few nights to you?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was, I can't remember the exact, I think it was about about four days, maybe.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh three days, four nights, I think it was like that's good.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um decent amount of time.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: It might even be longer, I can't actually remember, but it was it was like we sort of covered, I think, pretty much everything, which was quite good.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Or at least uh everything that we wanted to get get sort of get through.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: The last mention I'll mention for York, which is a kind of a tangent, actually.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: I've the the place names in the UK just are hilarious.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you how many times I cracked up, but just a quick mention um of a places that I loved.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a place in England called Piddle in the Hole.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not even joking you, it is a real place.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's on it's next to like wire pitdle, which is a is an actual place.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I I actually I laugh every time.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: And also, oh another one I misremembered.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Puckerup.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's like it's pucker up, but it kind of sounds like pucker up, if you know what I mean.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I just think it's hilarious, like to be like, oh, where are you from?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm from Puckerup.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: Oh you know, this this in the Northeast, we have we have two villages that you drive through in Northumberland, yeah, once brewed, and then the next place is twice brewed.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's so good.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's brilliant, brilliant.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my gosh.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but that does actually lead into my favourite street name I've come across in all of uh the UK, which was, and it's I also searched this up by the way.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's a nine-meter long street in York.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's right by the shambles, you can't really miss it, but it's called Whip Ma Wap McGate.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's like whip.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it is Whip Ma Wap McGate.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: Whipmawp McGate.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: I it's brilliant.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's brilliant.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I took a photo of it and I was like, Whipmawpagate, this is my favorite place in York.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you you gotta if you go to York, you have to take a photo of Nixasign, Whip Ma Wap Magate.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, it's just it's hilarious.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's near the shambles.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: If you can't miss it, it's near the shambles.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, I was watching a um history show the other day about York, um, and they were talking about some of the place names in York and kind of the origins.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: They don't know for Whip Ma Watmagate where that where it comes from.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: They just they that that's kind of lost in history.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: If you've got some great, if you've got if you've been to some places in the UK and you have a photo of you, I've actually got a photo of me sitting um on a sign next to my sister, which uh which says uh I think it's the books, the B-U-T-T-S sitting on it.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's a great picture of that.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, and that's a brilliant picture.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: That is a brilliant picture.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: I need to go there.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's the next bucket looks for I've I've shared that in the Facebook group.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're on a Facebook group and you've got a picture next to some fantastic street or sign in the UK, go and share it.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: You want to see it.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: I did try to get go to Piddle in the hole, but we couldn't make it work because it was sort of out of the way.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I'll have to do it next time.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I do have a photo of Whitman Whatmagate.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's yeah, that's hilarious.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: Brilliant.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: Brilliant, brilliant.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: So, next favorite place?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh or is there more in York that you want to talk about?
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, no, that's those are my highlights.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: I do some other things in York, but those are kind of like the my my top highlights, and I I could honestly go on forever about uh all the things we did in York.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I think there is a mention of later on when we talk about tours, but um moving on to London, again, I I kind of have we've gone to the UK.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is actually my third trip to the UK, so I have done kind of the main things.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I kind of want to do some of the other lesser things or things I missed previous times.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I've done like the Natural History Museum, which was awesome, but so the VA was on the top of my list in terms of museum, just because Tracy, how much you you talk highly of the VA, you told me you had to go to the cast courts, and so that was like cast courts, VA, and the VA like cafeteria or whatever it was, uh, was like I had to go there.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: So like on my very first day we went to the VA, uh, which was kind of a mistake to be honest, because I was kind of like a little bit tired from traveling.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was it was it was it was so vast and epic.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was so cool, so informative.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: The cast courts were amazing, they're like so giant as well.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's I don't wonder how they even get them in there, to be honest.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's crazy.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's so it was so cool.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, like the fashion I think area was like closed for like renovations, so we couldn't go through there, which Tilly was a little bit gutted about.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um but honestly, we didn't even scratch the I don't even think we scratched the surface of the VNA, and we were there for like three hours.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think we went through like maybe a quarter of it.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um but it was it was very cool.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: I raided the VA.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: Aha, I love it.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean everybody knows that I love the VA.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's just oh did did you go at the cafe?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: Please tell me you went to the cafe, it's so beautiful.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: I did go to the cafe, it was very nice, it was very beautiful.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: It was very busy though.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of it was like we struggled to get a table, but we did get one and it was it was very nice.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Very beautiful area.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, no, the whole place is very beautiful, like the whole building is like just like you can sort of gawk at it for hours.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, it was very nice.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um the next thing on my list that I really wanted to do, which Tlee was also keen about, was um Westminster Abbey.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: I actually I wanted to do a tour of Westminster Abbey.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I wrote down the exact tour that you went on, Tracy, that you did like the the sort of Queen's Diamond Jubilee as well.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't, they weren't running.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh my gosh.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think it had been like a few years since you you talked about it and went on that that tour.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And because we'd also booked it Savannah so uh sort of sort of so close to the actual booking, we couldn't I couldn't really find a tour that was like within our budget.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we ended up just going anywhere.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, let's if we we we can't do a tour, we'll just go anyway.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um and actually it was really good.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: I I even without a tour, it was really cool.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um the like, what is it called?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like the little like headset that you get was actually quite fancy.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's I've I've had been on a few of those sort of museum type tours with the headsets, um, but that was actually quite a nice one.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I found it really cool.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I we did do the Diamond Jubilee exhibit as well upstairs.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um we were like, I don't really use how how far up the stairs went.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um and there was a choice between there was a choice between the lift and the stairs.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: And but there's a cue for the lift, and me and Tilly swiveled together.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, well, we're both fit and young, like, can't be that many stairs.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: We were wrong.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: We were very wrong.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: It was there's a lot of stairs, Ryan.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of stairs.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: Tilly was like, Ryan, why did you convince me to go take the stairs?
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I'm sorry.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: After walking, you know, all day in London, anyway.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, but the the exhibit was really cool, and I I did happen to like kind of um what's the word kind of like hover a existing tour group there was like a tour group going through and I kind of hovered behind them just like put like an air good strategy there by a good strategy but a strategic maneuvers there um I sort of hovered yeah around it and sort of listened and sort of tuned in for some cool stories um yeah it was really cool and actually the the actual Abbey have their own I'm pretty sure they have their own like kind of not tour guides but like people who like talk about the place and so at certain if you catch them at the right time they like talk about um certain areas and so we did which was really cool.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah there's a Verger tour as well I think it's on at 11am I tried to get on that a few years ago but I was number 22 and the Verger was having nothing none of it.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I was not allowed to go on the tour I was I was very good at it.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so with Australian couple who were kind of number 20 and 21 I think and no there was no budgeting so so I will try and do that this year because I've been trying to do that a lot.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm pleased that that's two kind of big hitters in London that you hadn't experienced before that you included.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: I know I know I haven't I didn't do Westminster last time which is crazy.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: It is crazy.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: And to be fair I didn't I think I underestimated it like I think you kind of convinced me like once I once I heard you like rave so highly about it I was like okay now I definitely gotta do it.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of you know uh you know if you're interested in the royal family it's even more interesting um which Tilly was which is good um it's just so historic and you go to Poets Corner and you see how many people are buried there.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it's just really interesting.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's very interesting.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah Poet's Corner was very interesting yeah um it's just everywhere you look there's like every nook and cranny of Westminster Abbey has been crammed with some sort of like history of some famous you know monarch or famous person to the monarch it's like it's just crazy.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: You could have been in there for hours.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah well I you know what I I go I think I I don't know how many times I've been to Westminster Abbey and I've I've done it sort of on my own I've done it on a tour.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: I've done it so many times and I still will go I will still go this time because it's just amazing place to visit.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah um and I learned something new every single time that I go there go I didn't know that you know so it's it's always worth doing.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah absolutely so what else were your highlights in London?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I had to go to a show obviously you're in London you're gotta go to a show we were kind of tossing up between a few different things.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're tossing up between um so we love our pantomimes if you if you haven't been to the UK you don't know what pantomime is you got you gotta you just you just gotta do it.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like this it's like a really fun experience.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: I can't even explain it to be honest you just sort of have to you just have to sort of use it if you don't yeah oh no you don't oh no you don't um it's it's just so fun you've got to do Oh no you do everyone's so confused who have never been to a pantomime if you have not been to a pantomime yeah if you've never been to a pantomime you'll have no idea what that means so you need to go to a pantomime and then you'll know exactly what it means.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah yeah yeah we went to a actually went to an all drag pantomime which is kind of the reason we went to because it's kind of special um and it was so funny um it was it was just hilarious um Tilly's my partner's like a huge fan of Ripple's drag race and so it was like it was just such a and the theatre we went to was kind of like really small and intimate and it was of snow white um and it was so funny.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was so good.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: Brilliant you went to two pantomimes did you go did you go to two or just the one?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: I went to two I went to one not in London but um earlier on I went to one in Birmingham Robin Hood and um that pantomime was blow me as way as well because it just had like the biggest budget I've ever seen for a pantomime I mean it was like full pyrotechnics and everything um it was it was like fabulous it was so good the main uh sort of character he was like a comedian he was he was brilliant it was like uh definitely another highlight for me uh Robin Hood um yeah you just have to go to see a pantomime is the is the moral of the story if you if you if you're in the UK go see one.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely only December January but um absolutely oh yes it was our it was our box and day tradition every year actually we used to go to Birmingham to watch the the yeah it's a very much a traditional thing in a British household to go and see a pantomime so Birmingham is where we used to go so my daughter has been to see plenty of them but yeah absolutely worth doing um so I'm glad you did that I'm actually talking about theatre I'm actually going for the first time I'm going to the Globe theatre oh wow to see a Shakespearean play at the beginning of May which I've been wanting to do for such a long time I'll be reporting on that.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: But I guess I haven't it's not high on my list because I guess you haven't been so you haven't like I'm like waiting for you to go there and report on it and then they'll convince me to go up you know what I mean wait wait to get Tracy's seal of approval before I because I mean the list as you as you know the list is ever growing and so there's there's other things that I need to but that's so cool I'm so I'm so jealous that you're gonna go to that see that.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well I'll be reporting on that so you'll you're gonna find out I'm I'm very excited about that that'll be good.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: The last thing on my list that I uh did that again I got everything all this from from the podcast from listening to over the years is the Churchill War Rooms.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now this one was like my favourite thing I did in London.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: I was like so blown away I mean I knew I was gonna like it but I was blown away about how interesting it was I don't know maybe it's just right up my street.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: But for me the the sole selling point for me of Churchill warrooms is that if you don't know when the war ended because this was like their kind of like main like head of operations during the war they had like with all the planning all the information came to Churchill there.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: And once the war ended they literally turned the lights off and walked out and then left it as it is so when you go there it's literally your you're just like stepping back in time.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can see the papers that were on the very last day of the war like some some general had left his sugar rations on his desk that he forgot to take home with him after the war had ended.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's literally like everything is like a snapshot of of that time.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: It was so interesting I was I was just blown away and of course they have like a Churchill um Churchill museum halfway through like an actual a museum about his life which was again I spent like ages in there way too long in there just learned about every stage of his life from like his childhood all the way up to like the end of his political career it was so cool.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: I just can't sort of talk highly enough about the the war rooms it was so cool.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: I think I think the Churchill war rooms are Doug's equivalent in London of the VA for me in that he he will happily spend hours in the Churchill war rooms.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah um so yeah we tend to I got the VA he goes to church war rooms yeah yeah so I yes they're very very very popular.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um the last time we actually did a tour of the Churchill war rooms we did a private tour of the Imperial war museum with a um a guy who had a PhD in war history and then we went from the Imperial War Museum over the Churchill war rooms um and he was talking us well talking to Doug a lot about it um in a lot of detail because Doug was asking a lot of questions but it was really interesting because you know when you were talking about Westminster Abbey you had a few hangers you were like hanging on to a tour this guy was telling Doug about this stuff and then we ended up with a couple of people kind of surreptitiously kind of like following us while they're listening to this guy.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's how you know it's a good tour.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's how you know it's a good tour.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah so that was really that was really interesting.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah that's definitely uh it's it's very popular we actually have got uh we've got a podcast actually about um world war one world war two because there's a lot in obviously that you can see and do in London and an article about that as well so um I will link to that in the show notes as well um so does that kind of cover that does it covers the main I again I could go on for a I go on forever about the different things I did but I kind of had to summarize them like the the highlights.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah so for me those were the highlights.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah you you kind of briefly mentioned earlier on about um some tours that you did so let's let's talk about um your the favourite tours that you you booked onto yes uh the one tour that was on my list that I actually never got to do was the Tastes Tales and Traditional Alex tour and only because Tracy how much you rave food tours and specifically this one you've convinced me you've convinced me and you convinced Tilly by the way through me I've talked about what you've said to this that we both were like we have to do it now we have to do it.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we were gutted when we were in London to find out that they weren't actually running um over that the period that we were there.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: I like checked like all of December um February January everything was like they weren't running at all so I was like it must have just been maybe it's only the summer I'm not sure.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah I think that time of year they they they because a lot of the pubs have got stuff on in the especially in the lead up to Christmas so I think they they take them off.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: But I but I I am going on that tour again in May so I I I'm sure I'm gonna be convincing you again I know in fact I have got this is going to be amazing there's me and then there are there are five different five people so two groups that we've done an itinerary consults for who were booked on the same tour.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well they booked on that same day and I was like I have to go on that tour.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like I contacted Devo and went can I go on the tour because there's these people that I know that are going on it that I did consults for so so I'm gonna be joining on on the tour in May so I'm really looking forward to it.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: I know I know that that's gonna be so much fun I said to walk I said to walk to Devour I said that tour is going to be like a UK travel planning tour because it's uh I think there's six of us all together on the tour that are like UK TP people so that's cool.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's so funny you should do like a podcast like while walking on the tour or something.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: No that would be really cool.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: That'd be really cool to do that's a good idea.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: So but the tours that we did do uh it wasn't kind of I don't know if you consider them tours the one actual tour we did was called the York Ghost Bus Tour.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mentioned this earlier and this is while we're in York we were looking at things to do and this one we didn't get from the podcast surprisingly and we really liked it.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: It was really funny and you go on this old 1960s Rootmaster bus which for the people who aren't your sort of vehicle nerds I guess that's kind of like the old creepy from Transport for London like double decker buses, the red ones they used to have but like in the 1960s so it's kind of like an old one and they painted it black.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's got this really cool like look to it and they've like they sort of renovated the inside to have like cool little spooky lamps and like a little table for you to sit on but it is so funny the guy who runs it um shout out to him I forgot his name but he was in character the whole time he's like this sort of Transylvanian accent he kind of reminds me of Gru.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: They've got like this uh smoke machine on the bus that they like use to like pretend it break down the bus breaks down you have to go on like a little walking tour as well through the shambles and they tell you about the shambles and the most haunted pub in the UK um which is like right next door to it.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was so funny.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was uh it was just it was a bit of a highlight for me.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah highly recommend the Ghost Bus Tour that sounds like fun that sounds like fun.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was it was so much fun and I hear they also did one in Edinburgh and London as well I have not I can't speak to those ones but the York one was really good.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: Oh excellent okay well I shall contact I shall contact the guy when I'm in York and uh get to go on the podcast.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah I will do I I will sound like a good cool guy to get on sounds really interesting he's so good he was so good.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah excellent the other thing that we did which wasn't it wasn't uh we actually did for free because it was something that Tilly's parents just sort of had and never used was this Stratford um mystery guide.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: I don't actually know the the exact name of it but it's basically like this little it's by I think the company's called Mystery Guide correct me if I'm wrong Tracy.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah actually actually I'm I I'm gonna jump in here because um Jack Wells uh has he's the guy that wrote the mystery guides and there are mystery guides for all over the UK cities um and he's gonna be on the podcast he's actually gonna be on the podcast next week that's so crazy which is amazing that's so crazy Tracy Tracy told me about this before we've been on this podcast and I was like no way this is so cool.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah so you have to tell him I was a fan I was a big fan of his his uh his uh book um so basically what it is is I had no idea what this was until I found it um it's like a little booklet and it's kind of like it takes you on like a little treasure hunt um but it's not really a treasure hunt it's more like you'd have to solve a mystery and it's like uh I think it's who stole Shakespeare's quill and it takes you through these different like kind of historic landmarks throughout um Stratford Stratford upon Avon not the Stratford in London um and and um there's basically clues on all of these landmarks and you have to sort of decipher these like riddles um it's kind of hard to explain you there's like these little riddles and you have to like it's like what's the second letter of this like um every second letter of this plaque and you like spells out something and that's like your next clue and it takes you to the next clue and you sort of walk around Stratford and it's it it sort of took us like I think it was like three hours.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was um and there was other families on the tour as well and with kids and so I was kind of expecting it to be a little bit like on the easier side but it was actually really challenging.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: We were there was three of us and they're all adults um and it was actually like we got even stuck I think a couple times and we were like we just like we couldn't figure it out.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: So it was really cool a really cool walking tour really interactive way of doing it and learning about the history as well it sort of teaches you the history as you go um of the place.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: They're brilliant another highlight they're they're absolutely brilliant I I have said to Jack I said that I it's one of those it's one of those things you see and go, oh my goodness why did I not think of that I mean I used to be a history teacher Jack was a history teacher.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it's just such a fabulous way to learn it's a fantastic way to kind of you find out stuff that you haven't done.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: I actually did one about a year and a half ago in Winchester with my um cousin.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: She she brought it along and that's the first time I'd seen it and we loved it.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: But also like you say there were families doing it.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: When we did it we met up like three or four other couples along the way because you just start it when you want it's not like there's a start time you have the book and you just start with the first clue.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: But it was really interesting because we met these other couples who were also doing it at the same time and then we'd we'd meet them at the next clue or we'd get ahead of them and then they'd catch up with us a girl like we've solved it and it it was just so much fun.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: And you walk you walk around the place you learn about the history you can stop off when you want and just go and have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee or whatever and then pick it up again and continue.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: I just think I honestly think that Jack was totally inspired with these.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think they are for me they're like genius.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_02: And we've had we've actually been talking a lot in consults about them and we've had a lot of uh visitors who have contacted them and got them delivered to the hotel so that they're there when they arrive in the UK because they can't send them to the UK at the minute and from outside the UK and it's it's just so good.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: They're just I I honestly they're just perfect.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: I just think they were such a good idea.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly I could I rave about them for for hours because I just think uh again I wish it's like oh I did not think of that uh but uh yeah so Jack will be on next week talking all about his inspiration and why he did them uh and yeah it's so I'm really really looking forward to that and they he covers so many destinations in the UK now as well so just about anywhere you're going he's got a guide yeah yeah yeah yeah it's a fantastic day out it's a great way of doing like a if you don't necessarily want to like pay for a full-on guided tour and you just want to do kind of a walking tour it's a really like fun and interactive way of doing it where you learn the history about the place you like walk the streets of the city um but we're doing something fun as well like solving a mystery and all these clothes you know it's like a little game.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah no it's brilliant so they're so so good.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah that's pretty much it in terms of tours I didn't really do that many to be honest um like I said uh but I thought I'd mention those things that I I did anyway the the mystery guide and the ghost bus tour um which I thought was really cool.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_02: No they they sound really good and they're they're definitely uh worth mentioning and worth doing or or a mystery guide definitely buy a mystery guide if you're going to some of the cities we'll we'll link to that in the show notes as well absolutely um now I know you were staying a lot uh with uh with Tully's family um uh where were you based?
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: Were you in Wales?
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: Were you in Wales or in England?
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we were kind of between places like obviously we're like moving around the different family houses as we're like on a little on tour um but we stayed kind of in the same like this little circle not a little but the circle in the kind of southwest of England kind of uh so we Tully's family live in a little kind of historic market town called Ross on Y.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's on the Y River which sort of runs um into Wales it's kind of like on the border it's near it's near um Monmouth and it's like it's like a beautiful little it's kind of half rural town um it's like on a yeah like I said on a river.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's got these beautiful colored houses really nice.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then we also stayed kind of um in like sort of the Eversham Choaksbury area uh which is um I think it's like sort of north of Cheltenham in Gloucester.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of like edge of Cotswolds basically is kind of where we were um it's it was very close to like Broadway so we did like little trips there.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah just sort of like that kind of rural area so it was quite nice it was quite a nice getaway um because I live in the city here in in New Zealand so it's a nice little sort of country getaway.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's quite quiet.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: Nice lovely.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: And then when you stayed in in London and stayed in York did you what sort of accommodation did you choose?
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we just sort of I sort of just picked whatever seemed like the best value um specifically especially for uh York.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: We but we stayed in basically like these little like Airbnb type situations um although it wasn't through Airbnb.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: We did it through I think booking.com and both of them were pretty nice.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: I will mention though that our accommodation in London we got a really good deal on uh because we're booking it so sort of late and you know accommodation in London being quite expensive.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I specifically because of obviously the all every all my knowledge that I've accumulated through the the podcast I knew to get as close as I could to a tube station basically especially on like a uh a main line if that was if that was possible.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we got like an accommodation like right next door to a station on the Victoria line in Islington.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: Which was brilliant.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was like yeah it was perfectly sort of I mean you can kind of be anywhere near a tube line and and be in a good spot.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: But it was like straight on the tube every day you know 10-15 minutes straight into London even less time sometimes um and yeah it was it was brilliant uh and we got a really good price for it as well.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well yeah that's important because yeah it is yeah London's so expensive yeah it really is okay let's let's pivot away from um accommodation and that sort of stuff and let's talk about really the stuff that I really love talking about food.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh me too tell me what you what did you eat and drink that you loved uh I've made a little list because I just I just keep thinking of things and I don't know if I I should go through all of them but there was just so many things I have to mention.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: But the main two things that I'm like if you go to the UK you just have to try which is the first one is like sort of like a Sunday dinner or like a Sunday roast type thing.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta do it.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it's it's kind of like again quintessential British especially if you go in the winter by the way oh my gosh like a like on a cold rainy day oh it just those roasts just hit differently but one that stood out to me was this beautiful kind of hotel slash pub slash restaurant uh it was called the Arrow Mill and it was in Ulster which uh if you don't know where that is it's near Stratford upon Avon and it's on this old like historic mill and it's like on this nice little piece of land.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's got like a river running through it.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's apparently really nice during the summertime which I can definitely see now going there.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_00: And we we went it was Christmas and it was like they decorated it to like the nine yards like it was just really beautifully decorated and the and the meal was really good as well so I just had to shout out Arrow Mill as a bit of a highlight.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing I think you have to try and I kind of fell in love with while in the UK is um cream teas which uh you know sort of don't get fooled it doesn't necessarily mean a tea but basically cream tea is like a tea or coffee with a scone and the scones typically come with um jam and cluttered cream and I love this this was like all me.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: I like have I think I had like probably like 12 while I was there every place.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like oh cream tea cream tea like while we're in England gotta get as many as I can um and for some reason the scones in the UK are just like so much more elite than the ones in New Zealand.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like the ones in New Zealand are like ah it's kind of naff but these ones was like so good and we had some really good ones and my favorite one my favorite cream tea scone and coffee was in a place called Parlour Maid and it's in York and actually it's in the shambles it's like in one of those it's like in another one of those like really old 1400s buildings similar to the old York tea room and we went there as soon as it opened which was like 930 which was again that's a whole nother topic about how things opened at that time but it opened at 930 and we got in first and first served and there was like already a queue when we were there we got in and they have like they're kind of like scon specialists they have like all these different flavours and I just got like a the sort of classic scone and it was the best scon I've had in the whole UK it was just so good.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was like warm they teach you like the proper way to eat it as well there is actually a way to do it.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's like you're supposed to cut it a certain way so it's like you cut it kind of like a kind of like a burger bun if you can imagine that you um and there's also a way you spread the jam and clotted cream as well and it's very Tracy I'm interested to see how you spread it because it's very like highly debated about what's the correct way of doing it.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_00: And there's the Devon way which is you put the cream I think it's cream first and then jam and then the Cornwall way which is uh jam first and then cream and there's like so much debate around what is the correct way.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_00: But I tried both I sort of did a bit of a science experiment and I determined for myself that the Devin way which is cream first jam second is the best at least for me.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm interested to see what you what Your thoughts about that, Tracy?
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no, no, I am I am jam first and then cream on top because you put a little bit of jam on and then just slather the cream on.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: So Yeah, the same thing as telling.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: I see I love my jam.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: I like a lot of jam on my scum.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: And like this and this this the the clotted cream is like harder to spread.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like if you spread it first, it's like it's easier.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then I just lather it with jam.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: But I can see how the the the jam first and and then the clotted cream works.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, that was just my way.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_02: So well, you'll be very welcome in Devon.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well I'll myself and Tilly will be very welcome in Cornwall with that.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_02: I have to say though, I'm I'm actually not a massive um scon fan unless they're cheese scones.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_02: Now, give me a good cheese scone.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_02: I love cheese scones, yeah.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now in in New Zealand, we only have cheese scones.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like I don't think I've you had you would find them in the UK sorry, you'll find them in New Zealand, but you only find scones really weirdly is cheese scones quite often in cafes.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: So you'll love New Zealand, Tracy.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: I do love New Zealand.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_02: I do love New Zealand.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, I I rated the scones, it was great.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um but there was a couple other things on my list that I had to do, had to try.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: One of them was, of course, the meal deals.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can't you can't have a podcast about food in the UK and not talk about meal deals.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um I actually had a few written down.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'll see if I can quickly pull it up.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_00: That you love Tracy.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote this for the flavours that you have mentioned, Tracy, and I was like, if I find them, I have to get it.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got Miso Chicken and Pickled Slaw from I think Tesco's, um, which was the sandwich for you can get in the meal deal.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I also got uh MS Meal Deal is Tracy's favourite prawn sandwich.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yes.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: Is that still is that does that still ring true?
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be like their best uh prawn sandwich, not the cheaper one, they they're kind of like the supreme premium prawn.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's like eight pounds or something, it's expensive, but oh my goodness, it is the best.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: I have to say I I did look out for it, Tracy.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_00: I looked out for both of them, and I just couldn't find it.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: I they had a lot of festive ones while I was there.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um which I did try actually, which were quite nice.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I didn't find those ones.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: But I thought I had to mention it just to just to put it out there into the into the world that those are the the nice ones.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, they're so good.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they're so convenient, so like so cheap.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, especially in London when everything is like all the food is so expensive.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I you have to you have to get a meal deal while you're there.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and try a different a few different ones.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_00: Try like one from MS, try one from Tesco.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: They all do it, all the supermarkets do it.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they all do them.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: They're all good.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm a Marks and Spencer, absolute uh Marks and Spencer uh fan.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: But my plan is, um, so if you're listening and kind of think, and then this meal deal sounds really good.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_02: What I'm gonna be doing, because I'm I'm actually in the UK when this comes out, I am gonna be buying meal deals, probably not every day, but probably quite a lot.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna do a review.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna choose and then say what I have bought, and then I'm gonna put them on YouTube.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: I just think that will be such a cool thing to go in, see what I've got, how much it costs, and then I'm gonna I'm gonna rate them out of 10.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_02: So I I'll be doing that.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm there for like three months.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna do loads of meal deals.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be fun.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like you should almost do like a little blind taste test.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like you buy them all and then get someone to like unwrap them all and then just taste them so you have no like, you know, bias about, oh, is this one MS or is this one, you know?
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can compare like the um what they actually were and uh see how surprised you were when you find out.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good idea.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_02: I could get I could get the same flavour ones in a different places and try that out.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you've given me a good idea then.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um but also it's just to show the sheer variety of what you can choose to put in your meal deal, which is basically a sandwich, it's a packet of crisps or a chocolate bar or a piece of fruit, and it's a drink.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_02: So you've got that kind of you know, you you've got uh you make that up and then it's it comes to whatever the cost is.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_02: They range in price from like four pound up to like eight pounds, depending on on how supremely amazing it is, like the Mox and Spencer Prawn one.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, so they're just they're just such and everybody loves them because they're such so budget friendly.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh another thing on my list was Iron Brew.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: I had to try an Iron Brew, um, obviously a Scottish drink, not an English drink, but they had them in England.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um and yeah, I had to try it.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: Very surprised actually about how it tastes.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's quite interesting, it's not how I thought it would taste.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I do like it, it's very nice.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: Although Tilly did not like it.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, maybe not for everyone, but I I really liked it.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was really nice.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and interestingly, a bit of a fun fact, I think I got this in your podcast, or I think yeah, I think we got it from your podcast, which was uh Scotland is the only country in the world where coke isn't the top soft drink of choice.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually iron brew.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but which I thought was sort of speaks to its popularity um a little bit.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if you see it, try it.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely try and brew.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's Doug's Doug didn't actually get it in Australia at Kohl's, they occasionally sell it, so he he'll always treat himself to a can.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_02: I like dandelion and burdock.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now I don't know if you tried that, but if you didn't next time you have to try some.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_00: That is on my list.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, dandelion and burdock.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: I actually found out, I think this is probably why I didn't try it.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_00: I actually found out you can get it in New Zealand.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: I like I I went to for some, I think I Googled it while or just before I left, and I was like, oh, you can actually buy it in New Zealand.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah, I'll have to try it.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'll try it at home.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: Give it a go.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, give it a go.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh now, in London, there were two really cool sort of food places we went to.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, kind of food, kind of drink.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: First one, of course, pick and cheese.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: I had to do it.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_00: I had to go to pick and cheese.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is on my list, this is on Tilly's list, Till Tilly's list.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_00: Tilly is a huge cheese fan.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm less of a cheese fan, but I still like cheese, and I was like, it's gonna you gotta do it for the experience.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we went, uh, we didn't look or anything, but they I they didn't seem too busy, so it was all goods.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it was really cool, it was really fun, really interesting.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_00: I tried some blue cheese um with some I can't remember what was with it.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: They they have a pairing, they have pairings with each cheese, and they have like random things, and I think it was like a chutney or something.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was really good, actually.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_00: I actually rated it and I was like, wow, I've never thought I would say I liked a blue cheese before.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but that's what pick and cheese does, it makes you try new things.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I loved it.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was a cool experience.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad you went to pick and cheese because I tell you it's another one that I recommend all the time.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_02: There's some places in in the UK that I kind of I'm a bit addicted to, like Maca Smash Barn, Edinburgh, pick and cheese when I'm in London.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's just things that I absolutely always.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I'm yeah, I'm meeting a friend who's coming over from the States in May, and we're spending some time together in London.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_02: I actually met her through the through the website podcast.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so Melissa's come on over.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_02: And um, so I said to her, apart from uh going to the Chelsea Flower Show, which we're both doing and very excited about, I was kind of like, what else is it that you really want to do in London?
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_02: Because she visits quite often.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_02: And she was like, pick and cheese.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_02: We are going to pick and cheese.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, excellent, because I I always have it on my list to do.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'll happily go on my own, order a glass of port, and just sit there and and check the check it through and then wait for the one I want to come up, take it off the belt.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_02: And and I love what they pair them with, they pair them so carefully with just amazing.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_00: They do, and it works.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm like, what is I can't remember?
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: There, there were some really weird pairings that I thought, what the hell?
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: Did that go with the cheese?
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I tried it and I actually did.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, wow, this is actually really nice.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and quickly for those who haven't heard um it, I'm sure they probably have because you've mentioned it so many times.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_00: But pick and cheese is like a kind of like a sushi train, but for cheese.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you get like um you get crackers for free, and each cheese, um, you can have like a menu, you can read what each one is, and uh they all come with like their own pairing, and it's really interesting.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the types of cheeses, and uh it's really cool, it's like a fun experience.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_02: Brilliant.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like that the fact you've done this podcast editing for the last um hundred episodes for the last two years had it has enriched your experience of your trip, Ryan.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I am kind of hearing.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm telling you, like I I based my all my all these ideas, pretty much I think like 90% of them have come from the podcast.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's crazy.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_00: And Tilly actually keeps saying to me over and over time, she's like, She's like, how'd you find this place?
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_00: And she goes, wait, let me guess.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_00: Is it Tracy?
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yeah, it is.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_00: She literally said that when we were in this next place that I'm gonna mention, which is Mr.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: Fogg's Society of Exploration.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um yes, I heard the gasp, Tracy.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know exactly what I'm talking about.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um Mr.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_00: Fogg's is basically like a chain cocktail bar throughout London, and they all have like different names.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's like they're all called Mr.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_00: Fogg's, but that but the I think the ending of it is different.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um and we went to I think the same one that you went to, which is in Covent Garden, and there's actually two in Covent Garden, but it's the one where there's like a there's like a tr like a train cart, like a kind of an Orient Express vibe train cart in the actual cocktail bar.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the whole cocktail bar is like sort of themed around like trains and sort of steampunk stuff.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's like a little miniature electric train that like runs around the whole outside of the actual like bar itself.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um so every now and again you just see like a little train pass by your head.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna go.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um all the cocktails uh are really unique and really cool.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_00: They come in like all sorts of giant things.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_00: I got mine in the j in a giant camel.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: It like went on the came on the back of a camel.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_00: There's ones that came in like a hot air balloon.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was so cool.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_00: And each place has like its own unique cocktails as well.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_00: So like depending on we which one you go to, there's like a different, you'll get like a different experience.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the one thing I didn't know about going here, which I I will mention because I want everyone to know about it, um, is they do, at least the one that we went to, they do kind of like a little like a murder mystery event where you can book in, you have to book in.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_00: With the there's a couple in front of us that didn't book and tried to get on, and they got like instantly rejected.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you have to book, and I I believe it's kind of like a um Tracy, if you know more about this, you have to you have to interject, but it's kind of like a murder mystery, and there's like actual um you go inside the train cart and there's like clues, it's kind of like you've got to solve the mystery, and there's it's kind of like a little escape room kind of vibe, um, and you get like a cocktail served to you as part of the experience.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think there's even like maybe an actor and that like as the the crew that helps part of it.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's so cool.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's um I looked at it and I looked at the the sort of briefing of it and it looked really interesting.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, man, if I knew about that, I would have booked.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I thought I'd mention.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_02: I have not done that, Ryan.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_02: No, I haven't done it.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I am I'm not done it.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_02: No, I have not done it.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_02: So that is now on my list.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like you say, there's so much to do and see in London, and there's always things that you miss.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_02: So that is now on my list.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_02: I will be doing that in May.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you have to do it and book well in advance.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like I said, I only found out because when we got there, that there's a cup there's like a person um at the front who basically like I was like very fancy, this person in a suit who's like, Do many bookings, and he's like sort of goes into a basement.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what kind of cocktail bar has Tracy led me to?
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, where are we going?
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's very like exclusive, is the vibe that it got.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, yeah, they rejected these people who tried to go on this this uh to this event.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so I had looked it up afterwards, and I was like, Whoa, this is actually really cool.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I definitely recommend it.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_00: But even if you don't, just go to the cocktail bar.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's really cool.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_00: It was definitely one of our highlights in London.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we did it after we went to a show, we went there.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was so cool and fantastic cocktails as well.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_02: Excellent.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, yeah, I absolutely love cocktails, so yeah, that's I'm I'm adding that uh murder mystery.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna try and get as soon as I finish this podcast, Ryan.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna be booking myself on that.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds amazing.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I will do.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_00: And one final mention, it's kind of a really random thing, uh, kind of in the spirit of this episode of like weird things in the UK.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_00: Frozen mashed potatoes?
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, guys, what is what are we doing?
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is a weird, I don't know if this is this is just a New Zealand thing that we don't have this, but um, we went to go get, I don't know, we went to get some mashed potatoes like cool, just mashed and potatoes.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like, no, you just go buy some from the supermarket.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what do you mean?
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_00: Frozen mashed potatoes?
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_00: And they come in like a little frozen bag, and they're like these little pellets, these little like mashed potato pellets that I describe it.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_00: I and you and you put them in like a microbe and it heats them up, and then you they're like already mashed.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's so strange.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_00: But it was actually pretty good, so I can't really complain.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_00: But um, just a red food thing that the UK does.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say, I I may or may not have used the mashed potato before to get out of making a mashed potato.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_02: I deny I have a feeling we might have them in Australia.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_02: I need to go and check.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_02: If I got a cold or is there, I'm gonna check.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're in New Zealand and I just haven't noticed.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I I was like, they I when I mentioned like the idea of mashing potatoes manually, the the the look that I was given was like, what are you doing?
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how what is this this like you know prehistoric way of eating mashed potatoes?
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_00: You just buy them frozen.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what?
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's so funny.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_02: I have to say, because you've mentioned you've mentioned the supermarkets, that I I get uh far far too much joy out of wandering around a British supermarket, particularly Marks and Spencer's food.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_02: I absolutely oh I I can't wait.
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_02: I cannot wait to just be I can happily walk around Tesco's all day or Marks and Spencer's because the sheer variety of choice of what you get is incredible, incredible.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_00: It is crazy, it is crazy.
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we had we had mention on the supermarket topic, which is the ads are really funny as well.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure if you know the Aldi Kevin the carrot.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, yeah.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, they're there's so many, so so many, there's so many fun ads.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I love them.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, we've been talking for a long time, a long, long time.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's just gonna be a very long episode.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I have to wrap up.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, we could talk all day.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_02: I know we could.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um and we always end the podcast.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know what we end the podcast with, the same question.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_02: Of course.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so what is the one tip that you would share with anybody planning a visit to the UK, Brian?
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_00: So there's been a lot of good tips as the final tip of the episodes on this podcast.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's been a lot of them.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I wanted to pick one that maybe hasn't been picked as much.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and which is I found so much value in for pretty much every time that I've gone to the UK, um, or overseas for that matter, which is to use WISE.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I know, Tracy, you I'm pretty sure you've mentioned this before that you also use WISE.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I just find WISE so invaluable uh as a way of paying for money outside of like my home currency, I guess you could say.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's like I think you only have to pay for like the card that you get given and like the postage.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like I don't know, 10-15 New Zealand dollars, which is like sort of seven pound.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you can get as many currencies as you want.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um you can get like as many sort of virtual cards as you want.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_00: So you get your physical card, you can also get a virtual card.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's really great if you're traveling with a group of people.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_00: So for Tilly and I, we each have our own card, but we we also have a group card.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_00: You can actually do that.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can have like a card that people can contribute money to and spend like a it's like a like a joint account essentially.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um you can like split bills with people easily, so you can just pay for something.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_00: Can you just click on their name if they've got a WISE account?
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it'll just instantly split the bill with them.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh doesn't matter how many people you have.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I just found it so invaluable.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_00: So the the also the the um currency exchange rates were like the fees were so low on WISE.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm literally paying like cents for like hundreds of dollars of transfer.
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_00: I just can't rave about it enough.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't had any issues with it in all the years that I've used it.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's my tip.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_00: Use WISE.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I absolutely agree, Ryan.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I have a wise card.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Doug has a wise card.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_02: We've used it for quite a few years now.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_02: I have I don't know how many different currencies on my wise card.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_02: I've just come back from the Philippines and I used it in the Philippines um without any problem.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just something that I find really easy to use.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_02: So um I will put a link on as well if anybody wants to have a look and explore a little bit more about um about wise card.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, but uh thanks so much, Ryan, for coming on to the podcast this week and sharing all about your your and telly's exciting trip to the UK.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh you had a great time by the sounds of it.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Tracy.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was such a such an honor uh to come onto the podcast and finally have my voice on it.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's I was kind of a last minute thing.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I wasn't actually meant to go on the podcast.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um but it was so cool to talk to you about my trip anyway, because I we actually haven't had a proper uh talk about it.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um but thank you so much for having me.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_02: I know it's great.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_02: It was just it gave us a fantastic well when that when the gap opened up for for that episode, it just uh it led the way to doing a great episode with you and also introducing you to my audience because I know I've got plenty of friends who are podcasters who mention their editor.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_02: So a big shout out to um to Ryan for all the excellent work that he does, um, salvaging all of my ums and ahs and and starting sentences all over again.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh times that he has to do that.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_02: As always, I will put a link to the uh the different tours, the different um uh experiences that Ryan mentioned in this episode at the the show notes at uktravelplanning.com forward slash episode uh one nine six.
• 1:00:31
  SPEAKER_02: I will also add some photos that Ryan's gonna send me.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_02: So if you want to check out um some of the places that Ryan talked about and some of the things that he did in this episode, you can also check out some of his photos in the show notes.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_02: But um that leaves uh myself actually, and I'm gonna include you this week, Ryan, because you know how we end things.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_02: So um so that that leaves both myself and Ryan to say until next week.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_02: Happy UK travel planning.
• 1:00:57
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_02: As always, show notes can be found at uktravelplanning.com.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_02: If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app?
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_02: We love to hear from you, and you never know, you may receive a shout out in a future episode.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_02: But as always, that just leaves me to say until next week, happy uk travel planning.